What are "re-fried beans" and how do I make them?

Question

Also any ideas for recipes to put them in?

Answer 1

Refried beans (frijoles refritos) is a dish of cooked and mashed beans and a traditional staple of Mexican cuisine, Latin American cuisine, and the cuisine of the Southwestern United States.

Refried beans are prepared with either black or pinto beans

Answer 2

uhhh

Refried beans are not a mexican dish. It is a Texas dish... The term refried came from how they are made.

Pinto beans have always been a border country staple. Basically, when a large pot of Pinto's were made the "refried" was what you did the next day. As you re-heat pinto's they begin to get more tender and mash as a result of being heated and stirred. To add flavor they were often fried in lard, AS EVERYTHING was at the time, and served with bread.

It is a left over dish.

All you have to do is make pinto beans. Put them in the fridge and 2 or so days later reheat them and stir... Try it, you will see what I mean.

Answer 3

Pinto beans, prepared Mexican style, are such a staple in our house a week rarely goes by without my mother making up a batch. Although beans have a relatively long shelf life, the older they are the longer you'll have to cook them to get them to soften. Find a source that supplies fresh beans. If you have some that have been sitting around for a year, don't even bother with them, throw them out.

"Refried" is actually a misnomer. Refritos means "fried", not "refried", though you can certainly reheat the beans as you go through a batch. Before frying them though you'll need to cook them, in water, to soften them. There are basically two ways to initially cook the beans - with a pressure cooker and without. Since we make beans so often, we use a pressure cooker. It greatly cuts down on the cooking time. Here are directions for both methods.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups of dry pinto beans (about 1 lb or 450gm)
3 quarts of water
1/2 cup chopped onion (optional)
2 Tbsp pork lard, bacon fat, or olive oil (for vegetarian option)
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste
Cheddar cheese (optional)

1 Rinse the beans in water and remove any small stones, pieces of dirt, or bad beans.

2 Cook the beans in water.
Pressure Cooker method Put beans into a 4 quart pressure cooker with a 15 lb weight. Fill up the pressure cooker with water, up to the line that indicates the capacity for the pot. Cook for 30-35 minutes - until the beans are soft and the skins are barely breaking open.
Regular method Put beans into a pot and cover beans with at least 3 inches of water - about 3 quarts for 2 1/2 cups of dry beans. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer, covered, for about 2 1/2 hours. The cooking time will vary depending on the batch of beans you have. The beans are done when they are soft and the skin is just beginning to break open.

Strain the beans from the cooking water.

3 Add the onions and lard/fat/oil to a wide, sturdy (not with a flimsy stick-free lining) frying pan on medium high heat. Cook onions until translucent. (Note the onions are optional, you can skip them if you want.) Add the strained beans and about a 1/4 cup of water to the pan. Using a potato masher, mash the beans in the pan, while you are cooking them, until they are a rough purée. Add more water if necessary to keep the fried beans from getting too dried out. Add salt to taste. Add a few slices of cheddar cheese, or some (1/2 cup) grated cheddar cheese if you want. When beans are heated through (and optional cheese melted) the beans are ready to serve.

Note that many recipes call for soaking the beans overnight and discarding the soaking liquid. We don't. We discard the cooking liquid and just add some water back into the frying pan when we are frying the beans.

Answer 4

1 pound bag pinto beans
1/4 medium onion, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced
8 chile arbol dried peppers
4 t. salt
1 t. garlic powder
1/4 cup cooking oil

Sart with a 1 lb bag of pinto beans washed and picked for rocks, etc. Rinse the beans under cold water. After rinsing, add beans to a large kettle of cold water.
Add 1/4 of a medium onion in slices. Add 1 jalapeno pepper cut into slices. Add 4 tablespoons salt and 1 teaspoon of garlic powder.

Cook, covered on low until beans are ready, adding water as needed to ensure that they do not boil dry.

Once beans are ready, heat a large frying pan with 1/4 cup cooking oil. When oil is hot, reduce the heat to low and add the chile arbol peppers, frying them in the oil until the oil tints a light red color.

Once oil is tinted red, remove the chile arbol. Scoop out the beans from the other kettle by the cup full and slowly add into the hot oil making sure to drain as much water from the beans as possible to prevent the oil from splattering.

Once all the beans are added, then you simply fry them for approximately 3 to 4 minutes until you are able to mash them easily. Use a potato masher to mash the beans. As you mash them, you will add water from the bean kettle to the fying beans until you have a refried bean consistency (like in the restaurants).

After you achieve this, you can add salt to taste as desired. Be certain not to add too much salt, as the salt will take some time to dissolve completely into the beans; so remember less is more in this case.

This recipe has an excellent flavor and IS ***NOT**** hot or spicy at all.

I always cook extra bean for later to make re-fried beans.

LAYERED MEXICAN DIP

3-4 cups refried beans
4 avocados, very ripe
1 pt. sour cream
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 can black olives, chopped

In a 9 x 13 inch pan, spread beans, mash avocados with a pinch of lemon juice. Salt and pepper. Spread over beans. Mix taco seasoning and sour cream, spread over avocados. Top with olives, chopped green onion, tomatoes and shredded cheese.

Answer 5

Make a pot of Pinto beans. Store the leftovers in the fridge. The next day heat some oil (traditional is lard+ and stir the beans into the hot oil.Ta Da refried!

Answer 6

easiest way is with a store bought can of pinto beans..
add oil to a sauce pan, let it get hot
add beans to hot oil and mash it as it frys
i like to add a piece of cheese, salt, and pepper .. something for flavor then it will start to thicken and thicken more after it cools.
that's the easy way.

if not then buy dried pinto beans and wash really well, and pick out the rocks and bad looking beans.
boil for like 4 hours until tender, with onion and garlic
when cooked ( soft ) add salt to taste.
then pre heat the pan with oil, manteca, add beans and fry and mash until thickened.
you can also add oil to a pan and fry up some chorizo, then add the beans and mash ..it will give it a great flavor.

one thing i like to make with re fried beans is nachos
i make my chips but you can buy store bought tortilla chips
fry up some beef, season the way u like it ( taco seasoning )
then you spread out the chips, then the beans, and the meat..add Mexican cheese blend on top with diced onion, tomato, jalapenos, avocado and salsa on top..bake in oven for like 20 minutes until cheese melts..these are really good...even with sour cream.

Answer 7

If you go to the Mexican area in the supermarket usually with the curries sauces ect you can buy the beans to re fry in tins

Answer 8

You prepare the black beans...and let a portion for the next day...The next day you put them in a frying pan and cook them in a little of oil until dryed...add a little of white cheese and serve them with corn flavor tarts (Arepas in Venezuela)...and for drinking papaya juice...
It is very common breakfast in the east coast of Venezuela

Answer 9

You can buy refried beans in a grocery store.

Answer 10

Heat and oil frying pan.
add one can beans.
Store over night in refrigerator.
Re-heat and oil pan.
add beans.

Serve.